EU The European Union plunged into crisis as its new executive chief backed down in the face of imminent defeat by EU lawmakers furious at his backing for an outspoken conservative on his team. Iraq British soldiers began to roll out of southern Iraq on a risky mission nearer Baghdad as Tokyo stood firm after militants linked to Iraq's most wanted man threatened to behead a Japanese hostage. Mideast Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was savouring a dramatic victory for his Gaza pullout plan after MPs gave the green light to the first ever evacuation of occupied Palestinian territory. Iran Iran said its negotiations on uranium enrichment with European officials in Vienna were "very constructive" while insisting on its right to nuclear technology, state television reported. Thailand Thailand's premier announced an inquiry into the death of 78 Muslim protesters who were rounded up by troops and crammed into trucks, amid international protests and fears of further violence in the tense region. Japan Rescue workers found two young children and the body of their mother four days after their car was buried by a landslide, as the death toll from Japan's earthquake and aftershocks rose to 32. Sudan Peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebels from the war-torn region of Darfur broke after less than an hour, despite a promise from the administration to consider a power-sharing deal. US President George W. Bush accused Democrat John Kerry on of making "wild charges" about Iraq as they traded full-bore attacks on the war in the waning days of their vitriolic White House race. Afghanistan Election officials fanned out across Afghanistan to inspect several dozen suspicious ballot boxes that are delaying the end of the presidential vote count and the declaration of Hamid Karzai as the violence-weary nation's first popularly chosen leader. South Africa Mark Thatcher's lawyers wrapped up arguments against a subpoena forcing him to answer questions on his alleged role in a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea saying they could appeal South Africa's highest court if the ruling went against him. Britain Britain announced a raft of new measures to crack down on forced marriages, a problem some advocates claim has trapped one out of 10 women of South Asian origin in the country.